The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General has released a report that evaluates the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s methodology for determining maintenance technician staffing levels and the FAA’s process for placing maintenance technicians. A properly sized technician workforce is important to the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System, since this workforce is the second largest mission-critical workforce in the FAA after air traffic controllers.

The U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has released its monthly newsletter about the latest transit safety issues. This edition features information about: Upcoming safety trainings and certifications Presentations from a drug and alcohol program national conference Status of voluntary onsite bus safety reviews

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General has released a report that determines whether the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is properly identifying and mitigating data security risks. Data communication plays an important role in air traffic controller and flight crew communication. Therefore, it is critical that the FAA incorporate sufficient controls to protect against potential security threats.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released a report that evaluates various adaptive signal control technology (ASCT) research and outreach activities conducted by FHWA for more than twenty years. This report identifies the ways in which FHWA’s investment in ASCT research and related outreach activities have influenced the development and deployment of these technologies, and addresses short-term impacts of ASCT deployments, including reduced traffic congestion and delays.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released the latest issue of its bi-monthly Innovator newsletter, which is designed to help advance widespread implementation of innovations and technologies in the highway community and help chronicle a nationwide movement to improve the way highways are built. Articles in this issue feature: Making connections with ultra-high performance concrete Synchronizing environmental and permitting reviews to accelerate project delivery Pavement preservation

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that determines performance models of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) AASHTOWare Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical (ME) Design software. This report demonstrates the application of engineering judgment and qualitative criteria to select calibration coefficients from the final pool of solutions that result from multi-objective optimization.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that introduces the user guide portion of the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Climate Tool. The LTPP Climate Tool was developed to provide dissemination of climate data for infrastructure engineering applications.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General has released a report that evaluates the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s progress in implementing initiatives to improve runway safety. The FAA initiated the Runway Safety Call to Action in 2015 as a result of an increase in runway incursions.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released a report that evaluates the corrosion resistance of twelve types of metallic reinforcing steel bars. This report is part of the FHWA’s Long-Term Bridge Performance Program, which develops a collection of data-driven tools, including predictive and forecasting models, which aim to help bridge owners manage their bridges.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has released a report that analyzes the corrosion resistance of eight types of metallic dowel bars. A dowel bar is a load-transferring device that transfers one rigid concrete pavement section to another and maintains the vertical and horizontal alignments between the two adjoining sections.